BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Baton Rouge General (BRG) says it has performed more than 1,500 antibody tests over the past four weeks and as of Tuesday, May 19, 4.5% of those tests came back positive.

BRG officials say a positive test means a person was likely infected with COVID-19 and their body developed antibodies, which are specific proteins made in response to an infection.

MORE DETAILS FROM THE RESULTS

While African Americans made up only 5% of test takers, 17% of positive results came from African American patients

Only one positive test was from a person under 20-years-old

Half of BRG’s positive tests have come from people between the ages of 40 and 59

Women are more likely to get tested than men, but they test positive at the same rate

BRG officials say while there are many types of antibody tests, they’re using the COR2G serology test developed by Mayo Clinic, which they say yields a 98.6% specificity (ability to test to correctly identify people with antibodies). The samples taken for the tests are sent to the Mayo Clinic lab to analyze them for the presence of antibodies.

BRG started offering antibody tests in late April and says they’re now offered at most of its primary and urgent care facilities.

Health experts at BRG go on to say antibody testing it most useful for people who have had symptoms of COVID-19. Antibodies develop between eight and 14 days after the onset of symptoms, so it’s best to wait at least ten days after the initial onset of symptoms or a known exposure to COVID-19 to be tested in order to get the most accurate results.

Click here for more information about BRG’s antibody testing services.